Device for attaching and detaching boats.



1 To. 894,345. I PATENTED JULY '28, 1908.

- J. R. RAYMOND.

DEVICE FOR ATTAGHING AND DETAGHING BOATS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 21, 1907. I

% a R wuanlioz 3S1 Henna 1 JAMES RICHARDSON RAYMOND, OF BAYONNE, NEWJERSEY.

DEVICE FOR ATTACHING- AND DETAGI-IING BOATS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 28, 1908.

Application filed August 21, 1907. Serial No. 389,448.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES RICHARDSON RAYMOND, a citizen of the UnitedStates of America, and a resident of Bayonne, county of Hudson, State ofNew Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devicesfor Attaching and Detaching Boats, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to improvements in devices for attaching anddetaching boats.

The especial purpose of the invention is to provide attaching anddetaching hooks of such construction and mode of operation that theshackles of the boats may be connected with the said hooks by guidinglanyards, without requiring a sailor to take either the shackle or thehook in his hands, and that even in a rolling sea.

Much experience with my boat detaching apparatus has shown that it is ofthe highest importance that whenever it is necessary to hook on a lifeboat or other boat, to the fall hooks, as when such boat has returned tothe ship, for hoisting inboard, this booking on may be accomplishedwithout requiring the sailors to take either the hooks or the shacklesin their hands at the time of hooking on. For the heaving of the boat ona rolling sea is very liable to catch the sailors hands in the hook, andbadly lacerate or even tear off his fingers. But to attain this hookingon without use of the sailors hands, it is necessary that the boatshackles shall be guided with infallible certainty and celerity intosecure engagement with the hooks by the guiding hook lanyards, andwithout catching on any part of the hooks before they have reached thissecure engagement thereon. For it will not do to fail in, or bunglewith, the hooking on, when your boat is pitching on a rolling sea. Thepresent improvement perfectly attains this result, by extending the billof the hook out beyond the guiding lanyard a very substantial distance,so that the enlargement of the bill is beyond the lanyard, and passingthe lanyard through the hook in the plane of the oscillation of thehook. With this construction much experience in all conditions of thesea shows that the hook lanyard guides the shackle fair and clear oversaid projecting end of the bill, and the shackle slides to place in thebight of the hook, without the possibility of catching, because thelanyard holds the relatively contracted hook socket in the upper part ofthe shackle out of contact with the hook, until the shackle has passedover the enlargement of the bill and on to the smaller neck of the hook,where it slides easily home to place; whereas, if the enlargement of thebill is not thus well out beyond the lanyard, said hook socket of theshackle will catch on the bill, and it will be almost impossible to getthe shackle home to place on the hook, while, if the lanyard passesthrough the hook transversely to the plane of oscillation of the hook,the shackle will catch on the lanyard or on the bill, one or both. Incase of the shackles catching from either cause it may become necessaryfor the sailor to take hold of the shackle and hook with his hands, withgreat danger of having his fingers torn off. Therefore the presentinvention has proven to be of great practical importance in connectionwith life boat apparatus, and its value has been recently demonstratedin the United States and other navi es.

Another purpose of this invention is to provide a device in which thetrip ing hook is pivoted directly upon the shani or body without a link,and so that the hook will not stick from corrosion. By pivoting the hookdirectly upon the shank, I obtain important advantages. In the firstplace, I obviate the danger of the hooks being frozen stifli'rom iceforming in open spaces of the joints which are necessary when links areemployed, and

in the second place, the shackle is retained more securely-upon a hookof given dimensions, when the hook is pivoted directly upon the shank,than when a link is interposed be tween the shank and the hook. Thesticking of the hook through corrosion at the pivot is obviated byenlarging the hole in the hook through which the pivot pin passes so asto have a very loose fit on the pin, and by spacing the knuckles of thehinge joint on the shank and the hook so that they have a very easy fitwith each other, whereby difficulty from corrosion at the joint isprevented.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a hook and ashackle home to place thereon. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a hook andshackle in the position when the hook is entering the shackle. Fig. 3 isa side elevation of the same parts, but in the position wherein theshackle has slid down upon the relatively narrow neck of the hook. Fig.4 is an-end view of the same parts, but in the position of Fig. 2. Fig.5 is a horizontal section and elevation on the line 55 of Fig. 2.

Referring to said drawings, it will be understood there will be twosimilar hoo-ks, one for each davit, on the ship, and similar shackles ateach end of the boat. On the shank 1 of each hook, which will preferablybe swiveled in a block of the hoisting ropes in the usual manner, ispivoted a tripping hook 2, which is provided with a curved li 3, andenlarged weighted bill 4. The knuc les 55 on the shank 1 are spaced toreceive the knuckle 6 of the hook 2 with easy fit, and the hole 9 insaid knuckle 6 is enlarged to have loose fit on the hinge pin 8, thisconstruction preventing difficulty from corrosion at the joint. Saidhook 2 is provided with a guiding lanyard 10 which passes through a hole14 made through said hook in the plane of the oscillation of said hook,and said. hole 14 is made through the hook at a substantial distanceback from the extremity of the said bill 4 and behind the enlargementthereof, as clearly shown in the drawings. The said lanyard 10 issecured to the hook 2 in any suitable manner, as by knotting its end anddrawing the knot into the countersunk enlargement of the said hole 9.The results of placing the lanyard thus back from the extremity of thebill and behind the enlargement thereof are very important. For theshackle 12 is provided with a socket, or relatively contracted portion13, which looks on the hook 2 when the shackle is home to place, andunless said lanyard. 10 is arranged well back from the extremity of thebill 4, such a shackle contacts with the enlarged portion of the bill,and catches so that it is practically impossible to get the shackle overthe enlargement. In a heaving sea this is a source of great peril. But Ihave found that when the lanyard is placed well back from the extremityof the bill 4 and behind the said enlargement, said lanyard serves tosupport and guide the shackle over the end of the said bill, in suchmanner that the end of the bill passes freely through the large openingof the shackle, and the hook socket 13 does not contact with the hookuntil the shackle has passed over the said enlargement and has reachedthe smaller neck of the hook 2 where it slides freely home to place.

In operation, assuming that a boat is returning to the ship, and thatthe hooks are tripped by their weighted bills, the sailor catches thelanyard 10 and passes the free end thereof through the shackle 12, the

. lanyard then extending in an approximately horizontal direction outfrom the hook, and

in the planeof the oscillation thereof. Then by pulling the lanyardtaut, he guides the shackle truly and freely over the bill 4 of hook 2,the lanyard assuming an upward inclination as the sailor pulls it. Figs.2 and 4 illustrate the manner in which the lanyard thus guides theshackle. It will be seen that said lanyardsupports the shackle so thatnarrow socket part 13 is raised above and kept out of contact with theenlargement of the bill 4, said bill being now in line with andbeginning to project freely through the larger central hole of saidshackle. The sailor continuing to pull the lanyard finally guides andslides the shackle back on to the smaller neck portion of said hook 2,and about to the position of Fig. 3, and the sailor still pulling on thelanyard raises said hook a little and the shackle slides freely home toplace. An eye 16 will usually be spliced in said lanyard 10 into which aheaving line, not shown, may be bent when the boat is returning to theship on a tubulent sea, and the heaving line thrown to a sailor in theboat, before the boat comes near enough to be in danger of being smashedagainst the ships side. The sailor in the boat, in such a case, passesthe heaving line through the shackle, and draws first said line and thensaid lanyard through the shackle without delay, thereby hooking on theboat without danger of collision with the ship.

The shank 1 is preferably provided with the downwardly projecting part17 which is adapted to contact with the lower part of .the shackle 12and prevent the shackle from jumping back.

Now having described my improvement, I claim as my invention.

1. The combination in a boat attaching and detaching device, of amovable hook having a neck and an enlarged bill, ashackle adapted toengage said neck, and a lanyard adapted to guide said shackle to placeon said neck and secured to said hook at a substantial distance back ofsaid enlarged bill, whereby the lanyard in hooking on prevents directengagement between said bill and shackle and guides said shackle on tothe neck of said hook, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a pivoted tripping hook provided with anenlarged integral bill, of a shackle having a relatively larger openingadapted to pass over the said bill and a relatively smaller socketadapted to fit on the bight of said hook, a lanyard adapted to guidesaid shackle to place on said hook and secured to said hook at asubstantial distance back of said enlarged bill whereby the lanyard inhooking on prevents direct engagement of the said socket with saidv billand guides said socket on to the neck of said bill, substantially asdescribed.

3. The combination, in boat attaching and detaching devices, of a shank,a pivoted tripping hook thereon having a relatively small neck and arelatively large bill, a shackle having a relatively larger openingadapted to pass over said bill and a relatively smaller opening adaptedto a substantially true fit on said neck, and a lanyard secured to saidhook at a substantial distance back of said enlarged bill, whereby inhooking on the said lanyard prevents direct engagement between said billand said shackle and guides said shackle on to said neck, substantiallyas described.

4. The combination in a boat attaching and detaching device, of a shank,a hook having a neck and an enlarged bill pivoted directly on said shankwithout a link, and having a loose-fitted pin and hole connection withsaid shank, a shackle adapted to engage said neck, and a lanyard adaptedto guide said shackle to place on said neck and se cured to said hook ata substantial distance back of said enlarged bill, whereby the lanyardin hooking on revents direct engagement between said b' land shackle andguides said shackle on to the neck of said hook, sub stantially asdescribed.

5. The combination in boat attaching and detaching devices, of a shank,a hook with enlarged integral bill pivoted directly thereon without alink, and a guiding lanyard secured to said hook at a substantialdistance back of said enlarged bill, whereby in hooking on said lanyardprevents direct engagement between said shackle over said enlarged bill,substantially as described.

6. The combination, in boat attaching and detaching devices, of a shank,a tripping hook pivoted thereon and having a relatively small neck andrelatively large bill, a shackle having a relatively larger openingadapted to pass over said bill, and a relatively smaller socket adaptedto substantially true fit on said neck, a projection on said shankadapted to prevent the jumping back of the shackle, and a lanyardsecured to said hook at a substantial distance back of said enlargedbill, whereby said lanyard prevents direct engagement between said billand said shackle and guides said shackle on to said neck, substantiallyas described.

Signed at New York city this 2nd day of August, 1907.

JAMES RICHARDSON RAYMOND.

YVitnesses:

HELEN J. VALENTINE, GEORGE A. RIBLET.

